Something about the boy

If you didn't spot him as Fifth Officer Lowe in Titanic, you might have recognised him as the 18th century sea-faring hero Horatio Hornblower when the eponymous ITV drama returned to TV this week.

And you can expect more sightings shortly because Gruffudd's career is really starting to make waves.

Click on the link in the box, right, to see our picture gallery of his finest moments so far.

Gruffudd has a starring role in a BBC adaptation of Tony Parson's Man And Boy, (to be screened on Easter Saturday), and a part as the impetuous, penniless Bosinney in the forthcoming Granada remake of the classic Forsyte Saga.

Add to this his roles in major Hollywood movies such as Black Hawk Down, 102 Dalmatians and Very Annie Mary, and you could say things are definitely taking a turn for the better for the boy from the valleys.

Brought up in remote Aberdare in Wales, Gruffudd still remains close to his family there - headmaster father Peter, mother Gill, brother Alun and sister Siwan. His first brush with acting came when he was just 13 when he was cast in the Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm as teenager Gareth Wyn Harries.

Staying with the soap for five years, he went on to train at Rada, before landing his breakthrough part as Hornblower.

Playing the swashbuckling sea captain won him an army of female fans, both in Britain and America where the show was nominated for eight Emmys. His elevation to pin-up status was confirmed by his appearance in People magazine's World's Top 50 Bachelors List last year (he was placed at number three).

He receives hundreds of fan letters each day but be careful what you write - they are filtered by his mum Gill.

'The mail is passed on to my mum and everyone who writes gets a personal response,' explained Gruffudd in a recent interview. 'She knows the people who write regularly and gets letters and gifts herself now.'

His female fans were undoubtedly disappointed however when Gruffudd turned up at the Black Hawk Down premiere in January with new girlfriend Alice Evans - his co-star in 102 Dalmatians.

The man who previously said he would only marry a Welsh woman, and who bemoaned the fact that fame was ruining his chances of finding love, says that he and English actress Alice are both 'very happy'.

He has flatmate actor Matthew Rhys to thank for that. Alice was starring alongside Rhys in the Brit flick Abduction Game, when Gruffudd renewed his friendship with her and the couple's relationship bloomed into romance.

On the subject of love Gruffudd says: 'I do believe in love at first sight. I honestly think that there is somebody out there for everyone and you know immediately when you meet them.'

Aside from his immediate TV appearances, Gruffudd has just completed an independent horror film The Gathering and is in talks about several upcoming Hollywood projects.

'In ten years' time I could be in Hollywood waiting tables, but hopefully I will have a successful and diverse career both here and in America,' he says. And so do we!